


Beyond Dreams

by alexandrina_mcnight



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Lyrium Withdrawal, POV Cullen Rutherford, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 10:35:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5624008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexandrina_mcnight/pseuds/alexandrina_mcnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen Rutherford, tactical advisor and Master of Command of the Inquisition, had reserved himself to a life of steadfast duty; desperate to redeem himself for, in his view, failure to act sooner to prevent the horrifying chaos and loss of life at Kirkwall. The day he discovered Evelyn Treveleyn in the snow, half-crazed and dying from the mysterious mark on her palm, his fate began to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beyond Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Despite the mass number of works already available from Cullen's point of view, I've decided to push my own addition out in to the void. Here's a sneak prologue, just to get a feel of things.
> 
> Enjoy x
> 
> -Stark

Commander Rutherford fought the urge to close his eyes lest he give way to fatigue. The relentless, howling wind stung, and brought with it inexplicable, breathy heat. The snow, which just yesterday crushed against his thighs, was melting underneath his boots.

"Maker, not again" he whispered, dismayed. 

He tried to make sense of the wreckage around him, thick with death and decay. Not to mention the screaming, gods, the sheer terror pulsed like a living thing in the air.

"Knight-Captain, the blood mages have broken free from the barrier and started the summoning -- what do we do?" asked one of his Templars.

Cullen looked from the panicked eyes of his men and to the ornate door ahead, the sole barrier between their troop and the abominations. From the other side of the door came that endless screaming, a high-pitched whistle of a sound. It was enough to drive him mad. 

"Hold your positions, we cannot allow the maleficarum to escape. Take every necessary precaution," he said. HIs commands were met with silence, "am I understood?" He demanded, his booming voice echoed through the room. 

"Y-yes, Knight-Captain" spluttered the templar before he took his leave; the others followed suit.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and began to feel the aching in his clenched jaw. He was angry, and it made his fingers itch. 

"Commander?" an out-of-place voice questioned him, weary, safe - more or less. It pulled him up and out of The Deep. 

"Commander? Wh-what? Oh," he blinked, groggy from the disorientation that followed such an episode "Sister Nightingale, I apologise". 

"Commander, Cullen, are you...?" she peered at him from underneath the soft folds of her hood. He disliked being under Leliana's scrutiny for lengthy periods of time, it made him nervous. 

He cleared his throat and attempted a smile, the movement pulled uncomfortably at the scar over his upper lip. He knew well enough that it was folly to attempt to keep secrets from the Spymaster, but he did so all the same. 

"I've received reports of the coming of rebel mages from the north, they should arrive in time for the Conclave" she said.

He was relieved that she hadn't pushed; Leliana, unlike Seeker Penterghast, had enough tact to keep her concerns to herself for the time-being. 

"Maker's breath, we shall see the arrival of every rebel mage in Thedas before the Divine Conclave begins at this rate" he said. 

"So it would seem. Reports indicate that they shall be followed, in kind, by the templars, however," Leliana said with a smile. "It is something of a comfort, is it not?" she said as Cullen rose from his hard-backed chair. 

"A comfort?" 

"That so many come to Haven in the hopes of finding some kind of peace" she said. 

He gave her a sidelong look "Surely, Sister, you cannot be so naive" he chided her.

"I have faith, Commander, as must we all if we wish to see the end of this war" she replied.

"I suppose," he said.

"My agents stationed in the major camps have reported on misgivings, yes, and unrest, but-" she reached out to him as he slumped forward to his desk for support. 

"Are you sure you're well, Commander?" she asked again. 

"Quite well, I assure you," he said with carefully practiced nonchalance. 

She watched him for a time before she spoke again, "come, Cassandra wishes to speak with us before we retire for the night" she said. 

"I suppose she wouldn't be Cassandra if she didn't" he said, Leliana chuckled. 

"At least the civilians have been granted some kind of peace - however temporary it may prove to be" he said. 

"Do you so doubt the Divine, Commander?" Leliana asked, incredulous. 

"No, I doubt the mages," he replied, "and the templars. Long has discontent been brewing between them".

"This is true enough, Commander, but we cannot accomplish peace without faith" she insisted. 

"As you say, Sister" he conceded with a bow of his head. 

Despite Cullen's religious misgivings, he held Leliana is the highest esteem and sometimes envied her for her faith and hope. He'd met her before, when she travelled as a bard with the Hero of Ferelden. That title always felt uncomfortable, brackish and impersonal. To Cullen, the "Hero of Ferelden" had been simply been Solona. He swallowed hard at the memory, and banished it back to The Deep. They had much to do before morning, and he needed to be sharp in front of the Seeker. 

He took a deep, painful breath in and exhaled slowly as he entered the War Room.


End file.
